Module description: Microfluidics deals with the behavior, precise control and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small, typically sub-millimeter, scale. It is a multidisciplinary field intersecting engineering, physics, chemistry, microtechnology and biotechnology, with practical applications to the design of systems in which such small volumes of fluids will be used. Microfluidics has emerged in the beginning of the 1980s and is revolutionising molecular biology procedures for enzymatic analysis (e.g., glucose and lactate assays), DNA analysis (e.g., polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing), and proteomics. The basic idea of microfluidic biochips is to integrate assay operations such as detection, as well as sample pre-treatment and sample preparation on one chip. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfluidics)

Microfluidics can be used to simplify sample preparation and analysis procedures. It is in use among other in high throughput measurement technologies providing data for systems biology research.